The mute slaves at the scene were so frightened that they squatted aside and trembled, while Miao Rui and Bigo immediately rushed to Liu Tan and tried to drag him away.

Liu Tan: ...

Although cement will expand when it comes into contact with water, it will not react so violently, so... there must be some step he forgot.

I have to say, the effect of spraying steam in the middle of winter is... quite nice, as if a large block of dry ice was placed.

After the steam had finished, Miao Rui tremblingly asked, "Your Highness... just now... was it a deity that just arrived? Were you summoning a deity?"

Liu Tan: ????

It’s a shame that you don’t write storybooks when you have such wild imaginations!

Liu Tan didn't want to discuss the issue of the gods with him. He just stood there and pondered what went wrong. He even asked someone to send him a sample of the fine powder.

Miao Rui and Bigo immediately advised earnestly, "Your Highness, this is too dangerous. Please don't watch it."

Liu Tan waved his hands and said, "You don't understand. This is normal. It's fine if you don't add water. Stop talking nonsense and bring it over quickly."

The two of them couldn't persuade Liu Tan, so they had to put the mixed fine powder on it.

Liu Tan began to search his mind for the chemical knowledge that he had almost forgotten, and suddenly he remembered that when he was watching a tutorial, someone once said that cement was clinker.

The so-called clinker must have been burned with fire!

Liu Tan knocked his head, feeling that he had overlooked such an important matter, so he turned to ask Miao Rui: "Is there any iron smelting place in Zhuangzi?"

Miao Rui said cautiously: "Yes, yes, what do you want to do?"

Liu Tan clapped his hands and said, "Send all these things to me and burn them!"

Miao Rui and Bi Gao were filled with questions. Bi Gao said, "This... even if a stone is burned, it's still just stone, right?"

Liu Tan sighed. "I don't know how to explain this to you. Anyway... just do as I say. Oh, the temperature... well, that's hard to control. Let's try burning them all with different flames first."

Liu talked about how he finally realized that the problem in this era is not just the level of science and technology, but that there is no foundation for developing science and technology at all!

Even if someone has achieved something in a certain area, without a systematic framework, it is impossible to apply what he has learned to other areas, unless a true genius appears.

So if he really wants to tinker with more things in the future, the first thing he has to do is probably to establish a complete scientific system.

Liu Tan pondered for a while and felt that this kind of thing was not something he, a liberal arts student, could do, but he could put it on the agenda. After all, which emperor in history had ever compiled a book himself?

Miao Rui and Big Gao looked at each other and couldn't do anything about Liu Tan. The main reason was that Liu Tan's reputation was too good.

Every time no one can understand what he is doing, but in the end he always comes up with something unexpected.

The work was all done by the servants, and all Liu Tan needed to do was sit there and think hard to see if there was anything he had overlooked.

It was Miao Rui who then reminded him whether he wanted to go back tonight.

Liu Tan simply sent someone to the palace to tell them that he would not be returning tonight.

Anyway, he has a reason, so he might as well just hang out outside. Chen Ajiao should be used to it.

Liu Tan stayed in the manor waiting for news. That night he dreamed that the steam emitted from the mixture of cement and water created a rainbow, and then... someone walked out of the steam and was mistaken for an immortal. Just when he was surprised, he looked closely and found that the person who walked out was actually Lu Xuan.

Then Lu Xuan smiled at him, extended his hand, and said, "I'll take you to the grassland."

That’s fine, the camera then switches to show him sitting on the train with Lu Xuan, eating hotpot and singing songs. It’s a self-heating hotpot!

Liu Tan woke up in a sweat. After waking up, he hugged the quilt and reflected on the dream. He thought this dream was outrageous!

Why did I dream about Lu Xuan out of nowhere? Could it be because Lu Xuan had already left for Little Wusun two days ago?

On the day Lu Xuan left, Liu Tan did not go to see him off. The real farewell had already taken place in private, and going again would only add to the reluctance.

Of course, dreaming about Lu Xuan is not the most outrageous thing. The most outrageous thing is how self-heating hot pot came about?

He thought about his brain, which was not very clear in the morning, and then he realized that the self-heating hot pot seemed to use quicklime.

No, is he having sex with food?

He is working on cement, which is something that improves everyone's happiness index. To put it in a broader sense, it is the foundation of infrastructure. How can it be related to food?

But thinking about it, the self-heating hot pot was... quite tempting, so it was not impossible to make it. He decided that if cement didn't work, he would offer the self-heating hot pot to Liu Che.

The only aftereffect is probably that it will make him think of himself as a foodie, but it doesn’t matter. He is already a prince, so why should he be so ambitious?

While Liu Tan was sitting on the bed, thinking, Miao Rui tiptoed over and said, "Your Highness, do you want to get up?"

After having such a dream, I couldn’t fall asleep anymore, so I just got up.

After he got up and had breakfast, the results came out.

Liu Tan was very surprised and asked, "You finished it so early? Don't you even sleep?"

Miao Rui smiled and said, "I know you're anxious, so how dare I let them sleep?"

Liu Tan: ...

The breakfast he had just eaten suddenly didn't taste good. He didn't want to exploit the working people, but he couldn't say that Miao Rui and the others were wrong. This seemed to be how feudal society was, especially now that there were still remnants of slave society.

Liu Tan could only calmly say: "In the future, if I don't explicitly say that I need something urgently, don't do this. Don't worry, I won't punish you."

Originally, Liu Che didn't say when he wanted it, so why not just give it to him before he left?

Counting on one's fingers, the imperial court and the Wusun still have to argue about how to welcome the bride, how much dowry the Han Dynasty should bring, and how much betrothal gifts the Wusun should give.

However, although it was Wusun who asked for marriage, it was the Han Dynasty that preferred a marriage alliance, so the dowry must be larger than the betrothal gift.

All Liu Tan wanted was to get his career on track before he left, so that he could become a billionaire after he came back!

Miao Rui immediately agreed, and Bi Gao beside him echoed him, saying, "Your Highness is truly kind-hearted."

Liu Tanxin said that he was not kind-hearted, but he just felt it was unnecessary.

However, when the finished product was placed in front of him, he found that even after burning it, he could not tell which one was the standard clinker.

In the end, I can only use the most stupid method, try them one by one!

To be honest, the mute slaves' hands were shaking when they were adding water to this thing, which I don't know if it can be called cement.

Although the massive steam explosion yesterday did not hurt anyone, on the one hand it was too noisy, and on the other hand people are always afraid of the unknown.

Liu Tan looked at their shivering appearances and wanted to roll up his sleeves and go up, but as soon as he stood up, Miao Rui and Bigo each held one of his arms and pushed him down.

Liu Tan's face turned red with arrogance, but he still couldn't break free. He could only admit that he was a worthless person.

When the mute slave saw the commotion in the pavilion, he thought he was being blamed and hurriedly poured the water in.

This time it was much calmer, and there was no steam spraying again. After stirring, the state of the cement after stirring was very similar to the cement Liu Tan had used before.

Liu Tan quickly pointed at that one and asked, "Which kiln was this fired in? Is there any record?"

Miao Rui quickly asked someone, and the answer he got was - it all depends on the foreman's experience.

After hearing this, Liu Tan said, "Give me a reward. We'll follow this experience from now on. Well, no, we still need to standardize it."

If cement is successful, it will definitely need to be produced in large quantities in the future. How can one person do it alone? Even if he can recruit more experienced people, it won't work. Everyone has different eyes, and relying solely on experience will easily lead to mistakes.

Therefore, a thermometer that can withstand higher temperatures is necessary.

Thermometers are easy to use; the temperature for metal forging is much higher than that for firing cement. At least steelmaking is about 500 degrees higher than firing cement.

The problem is that temperatures above 100 degrees Celsius are not easy to control. Of course, you can continue to use the equal division method of the 100-degree scale to make a thermometer, but how big would that thermometer be?

The best way is to resize the thermometer. Use a larger one for use in the kiln and a smaller one for measuring the temperature on a daily basis.

Liu Tan didn't expect that he would have to go back and fight with the thermometer.

But this time he doesn't have to do it himself. He has experienced subordinates who can do it and he just needs to give orders.

He asked people to find sand and stones, and planned to set aside a part of the farm for experiments.

Liu Tan showed that he had people dig out the depth of the roadbed, spread a layer of sand at the bottom, and then mix gravel with cement.

The purpose of doing this is to prevent the cement from cracking. If you only use pure cement, I'm afraid that within a few days after it dries, you will see large and small cracks.

It would take a few days for the cement road to dry. During this period, Liu Tan thought that since he had nothing to do, he might as well start the self-heating hot pot.

This thing is easy to make, just a bag of quicklime and a bag of water will do.

The only thing you need to pay attention to is how much quicklime you need. What are the ingredients for a self-heating hot pot?

In later generations, self-heating hot pots were mostly packaged in various tin materials, which were low-cost, thin, and heat-conductive, and could heat food in a very short time.

Of course, we don’t have such convenience now. Wooden boxes are definitely not suitable, so they are ruled out first. The only thing that can be used is metal products.

Nowadays, bronze is probably the most ductile material. Of course, if he has money, he can use silver because silver is softer and more plastic, and more importantly, it is non-toxic!

If bronze utensils develop patina after long-term use and are then used to hold food, it can easily cause lead poisoning. Liu Tan knew this, but he had never paid attention to it before mainly because the tableware he used... was not made of bronze.

As a member of the highest class in the Han Dynasty, Liu Tan's household items had to be differentiated from others'. The poor used pottery, commoners used bronze, nobles used lacquerware, and his family used gold and silver.

Liu Tan had a set of tableware made of silver specifically for self-heating hot pot. After trying it, he found that the effect was quite good.

But it's not bad. It can be promoted to make money. It is especially for those businessmen who travel around. They are not short of money, but it is not easy to eat fresh food when they are traveling. This is very convenient.

As for him... he can take him to show Liu Che and the others a magic trick. Even if they are interested, he probably won't need it. They have no shortage of people to serve them. If they want to eat hot pot, there will always be someone who can set up the pot and charcoal for them.

Moreover, the most important thing about hot pot is taste. Given the current lack of seasonings, it is quite difficult to make delicious hot pot.

As Liu Tan was savoring his self-heating hot pot and sighing, Miao Rui quickly approached and whispered, "Your Highness, all that...that cement you made a few days ago has cracked."

Liu Tan: ??? Which step did we go wrong with?

The author has something to say: Liu Tan: When I was eating hot pot and singing songs, they told me that my cement road was cracked, and I want to crack too QAQ